Wounded Broncos star Kotoni Staggs has declared his intent to remain at Red Hill for the long haul, as the off-contract powerhouse outlined his vision to become a leader at the club.
The former State of Origin star’s future has been subject to scrutiny since November, with his current deal expiring at the end of 2025 along with fellow representative flyer Selwyn Cobbo.
Brisbane are expected to need lucrative offers to keep the duo, but Staggs declared he could not “see myself anywhere else”.
Kotoni Staggs is determined to secure his future at the Broncos for the long haul.Credit: NRL Photos
The 26-year-old has been elevated to Brisbane’s leadership group – alongside Adam Reynolds, Ben Hunt, Pat Carrigan and Payne Haas – and showed some of his best form last year when captaining in Reynolds’ absence.
He told this masthead that experience only fuelled his ambition to remain a one-club man.
“This is where I want to be. I love the club – I’ve been here for eight years now. Every time I put this jersey on I go out to prove why I want to be in the club,” Staggs said.
“I’ve left that in my manager’s hands and the club’s hands, so hopefully something will come out, and they can work through something. I’ve just got to worry about myself now.
“It was a dream as a young kid to play in this jersey. There are a lot of legends who played before me, so when I put that jersey on I want them to know that I’m doing what they were doing in that jersey.
“Captaining the Broncos was something I never thought was going to happen, I just wanted to play one game when I was younger, let alone captain the team.
“We’ve got a good leadership group here. At the end of the day … we have five captains out there.”
Staggs is expected to miss at least the first month of the NRL season with a quad injury, opening the door for a new-look centre partnership to battle the Roosters on Thursday night.
While Deine Mariner was heavily tipped to join the former State of Origin strike weapon, Gehamat Shibasaki’s preseason form was poised to keep the 21-year-old on the outer before Staggs’ setback.
Mariner revealed he has since put on three kilograms of muscle mass, confessing he launched new coach Michael Maguire’s regimen with defensive deficiencies in his game.
That presented Shibasaki’s chance, but the Samoa international was adamant he had developed enough to physically withstand the challenge ahead.
“There were a lot of things I was struggling with when I came into preseason … but being able to compete every day with the spot up for grabs has pushed me to become my best version,” Mariner, who has scored 22 tries in 27 NRL appearances, told this masthead.
“It was defence which was the main thing – it’s 50 per cent of the game – and that was one thing where I was never really tested.
“I played wing all last year, and when I did play centre it was only a handful of games, so I didn’t really have that experience in first-grade at centre defensively.
“That was something Shibba brought, something I needed to work on, and something Madge really enjoyed about him. I have an opportunity in round one to put out everything I’ve learnt this preseason.”
Brisbane Broncos squad v Sydney Roosters
1. Reece Walsh; 2. Selwyn Cobbo; 3. Deine Mariner; 4. Gehamat Shibasaki; 5. Jesse Arthars; 6. Ben Hunt; 7. Adam Reynolds; 8. Pat Carrigan; 9. Cory Paix; 10. Payne Haas; 11. Jack Gosiewski; 12. Jordan Riki; 13. Kobe Hetherington; 14. Billy Walters; 15. Corey Jensen; 16. Xavier Willison; 17. Brendan Piakura; 18. Tyson Smoothy; 19. Delouise Hoeter; 20. Martin Taupau; 21. Ben Te Kura; 22. Jaiyden Hunt
